You weren’t expecting to hear from your brother for another few days, so when you got a call at 10 pm one day, you were shocked. Since no one on the team even knew you had a twin brother, you excused yourself from movie night and made your way to your room before accepting the call. “Hey Matt, whats up?” You asked immediately, but it wasn’t your twin on the phone. “Hello? Is this Y/N? You’re his emergency contact?” an unfamiliar voice said. “Yes that’s me, whats going on?” you ask, panic seeping into your voice. “God, I’m so sorry to tell you this. Your brother, he got hit by a car. He was walking and dropped his phone or something and he’s being taken to the hospital. I can meet you there, but you should hurry, it sounded serious.”
You were frozen. This couldn’t be happening. You’d lost your parents to a drunk driver 8 years ago and now you were losing your brother too. You dropped your phone as soon as the stranger gave you the hospital name and quickly pulled on a hoodie and shoes. You ran out of your room and decided to take the stairs to the garage. You didn’t respond as several of your team mates tried to get your attention when you passed the common room. You took one of Tony’s cars and quickly made your way to the hospital.
Running up to the front desk, you ask the nurse about your brother. She says he’s still in surgery when a man in his 30’s comes up to you and hands you a cellphone. Without even looking at the man, you turn on the screen to find a selfie of you and your twin as the lock screen. Seeing your smiling faces on the cracked screen is what finally breaks you. The man directs you to a chair as you begin sobbing. “Hey, hey, hey, he’s going to be okay. She said he’s stable, so you’ll see him again soon.” The stranger continued to comfort you as you cried. Finally you calmed down and began talking with the stranger. You found out his name is Abraham, and he was letting his dog in when he heard the accident. After you had both lapsed into a tense silence, a doctor entered the waiting room and said, “Relatives of Matthew Y/L/N?” You shot out of your chair and Abraham stood tentatively beside you.
The doctor gave you a sympathetic look and led you to an empty room. You felt your world crashing down, as Abraham helped you sit in a chair. “Ms. Y/L/N, I’m so sorry. He passed during the operation. He wasn’t in any pain. I’m so sorry for your loss.” You let your head fall into your hands and you cried. After a minute, you lifted your head up and asked to see him. The doctor nodded and led you to the operating room. You were meant to stand outside of the room, but neither man stopped you, as you ran into the theater and practically collapsed onto your brother. You held him tightly and whispered, “I love you, tell mom and dad I miss them.” Eventually, you felt yourself being lifted from your dead brother. You wiped the tears from your face and met the sad eyes of Abraham. He helped you take care of what needed to be done and offered to take you home. An offer you declined.
The drive back to the tower was silent and difficult. You eventually parked the car and glanced at the clock. It was almost 1 am, the team would be asleep. You grabbed your brother’s phone and made your way inside. “Welcome back, Ms. Y/L/N” FRIDAY said as you entered the common room. “FRIDAY please leave me alone.” You mumbled as you made your way to your room which was on the same floor. You stopped when you saw Steve and Wanda asleep on the couch. They must have been waiting up for you when they fell asleep. You placed a blanket on top of each of them and made your way to your room.
Once you had closed the door behind you, you called on FRIDAY again. “Yes Ms. Y/L/N?” You collapsed on your bed and said, “If anyone asks about me, I’m here and I want to be left alone. If they don’t ask, don’t say anything. And please don’t let anyone in my room.” You turned your brothers phone on once again and stared at his smiling face. You felt tears roll down your cheeks, as you processed the fact that you would never see him smile at you again. He would never take you to Disneyland like he had every year since you moved out. He would never comfort you when you cried and he would never hear you say ‘I love you’ again. You laid in bed crying for hours until you couldn’t cry anymore. Then you decided to take a shower. The water was hot but you almost couldn’t feel it. You felt numb and everything felt muted. The colors of your shampoo were paler and your emotions were almost nonexistent. You just couldn’t feel anything at this point. After your shower, you quickly fell asleep holding your brother’s phone in your hands.
The next day, you called your uncle who also lived in New York to tell him and ask him to take care of the funeral. He immediately agreed. The call was short and soon you were back to laying in bed feeling numb. A few hours later, you got a text from your uncle. The funeral was in 3 days. Those three days were torture. The team eventually asked FRIDAY if you had returned and had begun knocking on your door asking what had happened. You ignored them. They went away. You were surrounded by silence until another knock sounded. It was Steve saying, “Hey Y/N/N, you need to eat. I’m leaving a plate of food outside your door. Please eat. I’m here if you need anything.” You did eat. When Steve returned hours later, he saw the empty plate on the floor outside your door, so he continued giving you food and space.
The morning of the funeral, you didn’t sleep. You were awake at 5 am and found yourself ready by 7. You were wearing the same black dress that you had worn to your parent’s funeral. It hurt to put it back on, but it hurt more knowing your brother wouldn’t be at your side this time, to help you through. You knew the routine of each Avenger, so you planned your exit specifically to avoid everyone. Miraculously, it actually worked. You took a different car and you were about to pull out of the garage when FRIDAY began to speak to you. “Ms. Y/L/N, I have orders to tell Mr. Stark if you leave the tower. I am telling him now.” You nod and the face of a very tired Tony Stark appeared on the computer display on the dashboard. “Hey kid, talk to me. What happened? Please? We’re worried about you.” He sounded desperate. You glanced down at the phone in your hands and looked back up at Tony’s face with tears in your eyes before ending the video call. Even saying it out loud to him made too much pain. You couldn’t do it.
You made your way to the funeral and stood in the lobby of the mortuary with your uncle. You were supposed to be welcoming guests and accepting condolences but it was too painful so you stood in silence. You silence did end when a some of the last people you expected to be there showed up. The Avengers were signing the guest book one by one and looking through the pictures of you and your twin when you saw them. Wanda was the first to make eye contact. She rushed to you and immediately pulled you into her arms. She began whispering to you in Sokovian as you cried into her shoulder. “I know, sweetie, I know. You’re not alone. We’re here for you. We love you.” You pulled back and wiped the tears from your cheeks as she gave you a sad smile. Next was Steve. He held you tightly and rubbed you back soothingly. Then Tony pulled you into his embrace, telling you he’s sorry and he’s covering the cost of everything and trying to comfort you. Then Sam, Bucky, Nat, Clint, Vision, Rhodey, and Bruce each gave you a hug and whispered comforting words to you.
Thankfully, you weren’t asked to say anything at the funeral. You sat with Wanda beside you and the rest of the team on the row behind you and listened as various friends and family members told stories about your brother and cried. When the casket was being carried out, you let out a sob and pulled Wanda into your arms, once again crying into her shoulder. She just held you and everyone but the team left the room.
After a moment, you managed to stop sobbing and pulled back from Wanda only to meet the concerned eyes of your whole team. Wanda was the first to break the silence. “Come on, Y/N,” She whispered pulling you to your feet, “One more thing, then we can go home.” You nodded silently and let her lead you outside. Steve and Bucky gathered everything from the lobby and Clint and Nat gathered all the flowers. You all got into the various cars and made your way to the end of the long line of cars on their way to the cemetery.
After your brother was in the ground and everyone had cleared, you stood next to the grave and stared at his tomb stone. He had been buried next to your parents. You sat between the graves of your family and cried for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Steve eventually came to get you and ended up sitting in front of you. Looking down at the fresh grave, you practically whispered, “There’s a spot for me. When I don’t come back from a mission, or when I’m hit with a car, or when I step off the top of a building, I have a spot waiting for me.” Steve sits in shock for a moment before pulling you into his arms. “You won’t need that spot for a while, Y/N. You aren’t alone. We won’t let you step off a roof or get hit by a car or die on a mission. You’re stuck with us for a very long time. We are a family. I know this is hard, but we love you, and we won’t let this be the end of you.”